Lectionary Calendar
Thursday, November 7th, 2024
the Week of Proper 26 / Ordinary 31
Attention!
For 10¢ a day you can enjoy StudyLight.org ads
free while helping to build churches and support pastors in Uganda.
Click here to learn more!

Read the Bible

Easy-to-Read Version

Genesis 27:42

Rebekah heard about Esau's plan to kill Jacob. She sent for Jacob and said to him, "Listen, your brother Esau is planning to kill you.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Family;   Jacob;   Rebekah (Rebecca);   Thompson Chain Reference - Jacob;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Birthright;   Esau;   Repentance;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Esau;   Jacob;   Rebekah;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Abortion;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Esau;   Rebekah;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Edom, Edomites;   Greek Versions of Ot;   Rebekah;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Canaan (2);   Nahor;   Rebekah;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Jacob;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Esau;   Rebekah;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Esau;  

Parallel Translations

English Standard Version
But the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son and said to him, "Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you.
Update Bible Version
And the words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah. And she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, Look, your brother Esau, as concerning you, comforts himself, [purposing] to kill you.
New Century Version
Rebekah heard about Esau's plan to kill Jacob. So she sent for Jacob and said to him, "Listen, your brother Esau is comforting himself by planning to kill you.
New English Translation
When Rebekah heard what her older son Esau had said, she quickly summoned her younger son Jacob and told him, "Look, your brother Esau is planning to get revenge by killing you.
Webster's Bible Translation
And these words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as concerning thee, doth comfort himself, [purposing] to kill thee.
World English Bible
The words of Esau, her elder son, were told to Rebekah. She sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, "Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you.
Amplified Bible
When these words of her elder son Esau were repeated to Rebekah, she sent for Jacob her younger son, and said to him, "Listen carefully, your brother Esau is comforting himself concerning you by planning to kill you.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
These thingis weren teld to Rebecca, and sche sente, and clepide hir sone Jacob, and seide to hym, Lo ! Esau, thi brothir, manaasith to sle thee;
Young's Literal Translation
And the words of Esau her elder son are declared to Rebekah, and she sendeth and calleth for Jacob her younger son, and saith unto him, `Lo, Esau thy brother is comforting himself in regard to thee -- to slay thee;
Berean Standard Bible
When the words of her older son Esau were relayed to Rebekah, she sent for her younger son Jacob and told him, "Look, your brother Esau is consoling himself by plotting to kill you.
Contemporary English Version
When Rebekah found out what Esau planned to do, she sent for Jacob and told him, "Son, your brother Esau is just waiting for the time when he can kill you.
Complete Jewish Bible
But the words of ‘Esav her older son were told to Rivkah. She sent for Ya‘akov her younger son and said to him, "Here, your brother ‘Esav is comforting himself over you by planning to kill you.
American Standard Version
And the words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah; and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee.
Bible in Basic English
Then Rebekah, hearing what Esau had said, sent for Jacob, her younger son, and said to him, It seems that your brother Esau is purposing to put you to death.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And these wordes of Esau her elder sonne were tolde to Rebecca: And she sent, & called Iacob her younger sonne, & saide vnto him: Beholde, thy brother Esau as touchyng thee doth comforte hym selfe [full purposyng] to kyll thee.
Darby Translation
And the words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebecca. And she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, comforts himself that he will kill thee.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah; and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him: 'Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee.
King James Version (1611)
And these words of Esau her elder sonne were told to Rebekah: And shee sent and called Iacob her yonger sonne, and said vnto him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doeth comfort himselfe, purposing to kill thee.
King James Version
And these words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee.
New Life Bible
But the words of her older son Esau were told to Rebekah. She called her younger son Jacob, and said to him, "See, your brother Esau comforts himself by planning to kill you.
New Revised Standard
But the words of her elder son Esau were told to Rebekah; so she sent and called her younger son Jacob and said to him, "Your brother Esau is consoling himself by planning to kill you.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then were told to Rebekah, the words of Esau her elder son, so she sent and called for Jacob, her younger son, and said unto him - Lo! Esau, thy brother, is consoling himself as touching thee, to slay thee.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And it was told to Rebekah of the wordes of Esau her elder sonne, and shee sent and called Iaakob her yonger sonne, and sayd vnto him, Beholde, thy brother Esau is comforted against thee, meaning to kill thee:
George Lamsa Translation
And the words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah; so she sent and called her younger son Jacob, and said to him, Behold, your brother Esau is threatening to kill you.
Good News Translation
But when Rebecca heard about Esau's plan, she sent for Jacob and said, "Listen, your brother Esau is planning to get even with you and kill you.
Douay-Rheims Bible
These things were told to Rebecca: and she sent and called Jacob, her son, and said to him: Behold Esau, thy brother, threateneth to kill thee.
Revised Standard Version
But the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah; so she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, "Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself by planning to kill you.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the words of Esau her elder son were reported to Rebecca, and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, Behold, Esau thy brother threatens thee to kill thee.
English Revised Version
And the words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah; and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee.
Christian Standard Bible®
When the words of her older son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she summoned her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Listen, your brother Esau is consoling himself by planning to kill you.
Hebrew Names Version
The words of Esav, her elder son, were told to Rivka. She sent and called Ya`akov her younger son, and said to him, "Behold, your brother Esav comforts himself about you by planning to kill you.
Lexham English Bible
But the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. And she sent and called for her younger son Jacob. And she said to him, "Look, Esau your brother is consoling himself concerning you, intending to kill you.
Literal Translation
And the words of her older son Esau were told to Rebekah. And she sent and called her younger son Jacob. And she said to him, Behold! Your brother Esau is going to ease himself on you, to kill you.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The was it tolde Rebecca of these wordes of hir elder sonne, and she sent, and bad call for Iacob hir yonger sonne, and saide vnto him: Beholde, thy brother Esau threateneth the, that he wil slaye the.
THE MESSAGE
When these words of her older son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she called her younger son Jacob and said, "Your brother Esau is plotting vengeance against you. He's going to kill you. Son, listen to me. Get out of here. Run for your life to Haran, to my brother Laban. Live with him for a while until your brother cools down, until his anger subsides and he forgets what you did to him. I'll then send for you and bring you back. Why should I lose both of you the same day?"
New American Standard Bible
Now when the words of her elder son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she sent word and called her younger son Jacob, and said to him, "Behold your brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you by planning to kill you.
New King James Version
And the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, "Surely your brother Esau comforts himself concerning you by intending to kill you.
New Living Translation
But Rebekah heard about Esau's plans. So she sent for Jacob and told him, "Listen, Esau is consoling himself by plotting to kill you.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Now when the words of her elder son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she sent and called her younger son Jacob, and said to him, "Behold your brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you by planning to kill you.
Legacy Standard Bible
Then the words of her elder son Esau were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called her younger son Jacob and said to him, "Behold, your brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you by planning to kill you.

Contextual Overview

41 After that Esau hated Jacob because of this blessing. Esau said to himself, "My father will soon die, and after we are finished with that, I will kill Jacob." 42 Rebekah heard about Esau's plan to kill Jacob. She sent for Jacob and said to him, "Listen, your brother Esau is planning to kill you. 43 So, son, do what I say. My brother Laban is living in Haran. Go to him and hide. 44 Stay with him for a short time until your brother stops being angry. 45 When your brother forgets what you did to him, I will send a servant to bring you back. I don't want to lose both of my sons the same day." 46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, "Your son Esau married Hittite women. I am very upset about this, because they are not our people. I'll have nothing to live for if Jacob marries one of these women!"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

comfort himself: Genesis 37:18-20, Genesis 42:21, Genesis 42:22, 1 Samuel 30:5, Job 20:12-14, Psalms 64:5, Proverbs 2:14, Proverbs 4:16, Proverbs 4:17

Reciprocal: Genesis 33:1 - Esau came Genesis 50:15 - their father Ezekiel 25:12 - taking vengeance Ezekiel 35:5 - thou hast had 1 Corinthians 1:11 - it hath 2 Corinthians 9:1 - touching

Cross-References

Genesis 27:12
If my father touches me, he will know that I am not Esau. Then he will not bless me—he will curse me because I tried to trick him."
Genesis 27:14
So Jacob went out and got two goats and brought them to his mother. His mother cooked the goats in the special way that Isaac loved.
Genesis 27:16
She took the skins of the goats and put them on Jacob's hands and on his neck.
Genesis 27:17
Then she got the food she had cooked and gave it to Jacob.
Genesis 27:18
Jacob went to his father and said, "Father." His father answered, "Yes, son. Who are you?"
Genesis 27:20
But Isaac said to his son, "How have you hunted and killed the animals so quickly?" Jacob answered, "Because the Lord your God allowed me to find the animals quickly."
Genesis 27:21
Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Come near to me so that I can feel you, my son. If I can feel you, I will know if you are really my son Esau."
Genesis 27:22
So Jacob went to Isaac his father. Isaac felt him and said, "Your voice sounds like Jacob's voice, but your arms are hairy like the arms of Esau."
1 Samuel 30:5
The Amalekites had taken David's two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, who had been the wife of Nabal from Carmel.
Psalms 64:5
They encourage each other to do wrong. They talk about setting traps and say, "No one will see them here!

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And these words of Esau her eldest son were told to Rebekah,.... Jarchi and Jonathan say, by the Holy Ghost; but Aben Ezra thinks, by one of Esau's friends and confidants, to whom out of the abundance of his heart he had revealed this secret, which is not at all unlikely:

and she sent and called Jacob her younger son; who might be in another tent or apartment, or with the flocks in the field:

and said unto him, behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, [purposing] to kill thee; he has determined on it, and has laid a scheme for it, and comforts himself with the thought of it, that he shall be able to accomplish it, and so be the heir of the promise, and get the blessing; and even such is his nature, that thy death will be a comfort to him under the loss of his blessing, though he gets nothing by it, so sweet is revenge unto him.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

- Isaac Blessing His Sons

The life of Isaac falls into three periods. During the first seventy-five years he is contemporary with his father. For sixty-one years more his son Jacob remains under the paternal roof. The remaining forty-four years are passed in the retirement of old age. The chapter before us narrates the last solemn acts of the middle period of his life.

Genesis 27:1-4

Isaac was old. - Joseph was in his thirtieth year when he stood before Pharaoh, and therefore thirty-nine when Jacob came down to Egypt at the age of one hundred and thirty. When Joseph was born, therefore, Jacob was ninety-one, and he had sojourned fourteen years in Padan-aram. Hence, Jacob’s flight to Laban took place when he was seventy-seven, and therefore in the one hundred and thirty-sixth year of Isaac. “His eyes were dim.” Weakness and even loss of sight is more frequent in Palestine than with us. “His older son.” Isaac had not yet come to the conclusion that Jacob was heir of the promise. The communication from the Lord to Rebekah concerning her yet unborn sons in the form in which it is handed down to us merely determines that the older shall serve the younger. This fact Isaac seems to have thought might not imply the transferrence of the birthright; and if he was aware of the transaction between Esau and Jacob, he may not have regarded it as valid. Hence, he makes arrangements for bestowing the paternal benediction on Esau, his older son, whom he also loves. “I am old.” At the age of one hundred and thirty-six, and with failing sight, he felt that life was uncertain. In the calmness of determination he directs Esau to prepare savory meat, such as he loved, that he may have his vigor renewed and his spirits revived for the solemn business of bestowing that blessing, which he held to be fraught with more than ordinary benefits.

Genesis 27:5-13

Rebekah forms a plan for diverting the blessing from Esau to Jacob. She was within hearing when the infirm Isaac gave his orders, and communicates the news to Jacob. Rebekah has no scruples about primogeniture. Her feelings prompt her to take measures, without waiting to consider whether they are justifiable or not, for securing to Jacob that blessing which she has settled in her own mind to be destined for him. She thinks it necessary to interfere that this end may not fail of being accomplished. Jacob views the matter more coolly, and starts a difficulty. He may be found out to be a deceiver, and bring his father’s curse upon him. Rebekah, anticipating no such issue; undertakes to bear the curse that she conceived would never come. Only let him obey.

Verse 14-29

The plan is successful. Jacob now, without further objection, obeys his mother. She clothes him in Esau’s raiment, and puts the skins of the kids on his hands and his neck. The camel-goat affords a hair which bears a great resemblance to that of natural growth, and is used as a substitute for it. Now begins the strange interview between the father and the son. “Who art thou, my son?” The voice of Jacob was somewhat constrained. He goes, however, deliberately through the process of deceiving his father. “Arise, now, sit and eat.” Isaac was reclining on his couch, in the feebleness of advancing years. Sitting was the posture convenient for eating. “The Lord thy God prospered me.” This is the bold reply to Isaac’s expression of surprise at the haste with which the dainty fare had been prepared. The bewildered father now puts Jacob to a severer test. He feels him, but discerns him not. The ear notes a difference, but the hand feels the hairy skin resembling Esau’s; the eyes give no testimony. After this the result is summarily stated in a single sentence, though the particulars are yet to be given. “Art thou my very son Esau?” A lurking doubt puts the definite question, and receives a decisive answer. Isaac then calls for the repast and partakes.

Genesis 27:26-29

He gives the kiss of paternal affection, and pronounces the benediction. It contains, first, a fertile soil. “Of the dew of heaven.” An abundant measure of this was especially precious in a country where the rain is confined to two seasons of the year. “Of the fatness of the earth;” a proportion of this to match and render available the dew of heaven. “Corn and wine,” the substantial products, implying all the rest. Second, a numerous and powerful offspring. “Let peoples serve thee” - pre-eminence among the nations. “Be lord of thy brethren” - pre-eminence among his kindred. Isaac does not seem to have grasped the full meaning of the prediction, “The older shall serve the younger.” Third, Prosperity, temporal and spiritual. He that curseth thee be cursed, and he that blesseth thee be blessed. This is the only part of the blessing that directly comprises spiritual things; and even this of a special form. It is to be recollected that it was Isaac’s intention to bless Esau, and he may have felt that Esau, after all, was not to be the progenitor of the holy seed. Hence, the form of expression is vague enough to apply to temporal things, and yet sufficiently comprehensive to embrace the infliction of the ban of sin, and the diffusion of the blessing of salvation by means of the holy seed.

Genesis 27:30-41

Esau’s blessing. Esau comes in, but it is too late. “Who then?” The whole illusion is dispelled from the mind of Isaac. “Yea, blessed he shall be.” Jacob had no doubt perpetrated a fraud, at the instigation of his mother; and if Esau had been worthy in other respects, and above all if the blessing had been designed for him, its bestowment on another would have been either prevented or regarded as null and void. But Isaac now felt that, whatever was the misconduct of Jacob in interfering, and especially in employing unworthy means to accomplish his end, he himself was culpable in allowing carnal considerations to draw his preference to Esau, who was otherwise unworthy. He knew too that the paternal benediction flowed not from the bias of the parent, but from the Spirit of God guiding his will, and therefore when so pronounced could not be revoked. Hence, he was now convinced that it was the design of Providence that the spiritual blessing should fall on the line of Jacob. The grief of Esau is distressing to witness, especially as he had been comparatively blameless in this particular instance. But still it is to be remembered that his heart had not been open to the paramount importance of spiritual things. Isaac now perceives that Jacob has gained the blessing by deceit. Esau marks the propriety of his name, the wrestler who trips up the heel, and pleads pathetically for at least some blessing. His father enumerates what he has done for Jacob, and asks what more he can do for Esau; who then exclaims, “Hast thou but one blessing?”

Genesis 27:39-41

At length, in reply to the weeping suppliant, he bestows upon him a characteristic blessing. “Away from the fatness.” The preposition (מי mı̂y) is the same as in the blessing of Jacob. But there, after a verb of giving, it had a partitive sense; here, after a noun of place, it denotes distance or separation; for example, Proverbs 20:3 The pastoral life has been distasteful to Esau, and so it shall be with his race. The land of Edom was accordingly a comparative wilderness (Malachi 1:3). “On thy sword.” By preying upon others. “And thy brother shalt thou serve.” Edom was long independent; but at length Saul was victorious over them 1 Samuel 14:47, and David conquered them 2 Samuel 8:14. Then followed a long struggle, until John Hyrcanus, 129 b.c., compelled them to be circumcised and incorporated into Judaism. “Break his yoke.” The history of Edom was a perpetual struggle against the supremacy of Israel. Conquered by Saul, subdued by David, repressed by Solomon, restrained after a revolt by Amaziah, they recovered their independence in the time of Ahab. They were incorporated into the Jewish state, and furnished it with the dynasty of princes beginning with Antipater. Esau was now exasperated against his brother, and could only compose his mind by resolving to slay him during the days of mourning after his father’s death.

Genesis 27:42-46

Rebekah hearing this, advises Jacob to flee to Laban her brother, and await the abatement of his brother’s anger. “That which thou hast done to him.” Rebekah seems not to have been aware that she herself was the cause of much of the evil and of the misery that flowed from it. All the parties to this transaction are pursued by a retributive chastisement. Rebekah, especially, parts with her favorite son to meet him only after an absence of twenty years, if ever in this life. She is moreover grievously vexed with the connection which Esau formed with the daughters of Heth. She dreads a similar matrimonial alliance on the part of Jacob.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Genesis 27:42. Doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee. — מתנחם לך mithnachem lecha, which Houbigant renders cogitat super te, he thinks or meditates to kill thee. This sense is natural enough here, but it does not appear to be the meaning of the original; nor does Houbigant himself give it this sense, in his Racines Hebraiques. There is no doubt that Esau, in his hatred to his brother, felt himself pleased with the thought that he should soon have the opportunity of avenging his wrongs.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile